Count-down to GLO/CAF Awards

Nigeria's two nominees for the Glo-CAF Awards’ Young Player of the Year, John Mikel Obi and Ismaila Taye Taiwo share many things in common. The two came into limelight at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in Holland where they finished as the world's 2nd and 3rd best youth players.

Both players also made their debut for the Nigeria senior national team, The Super Eagles in an international friendly against Libya just as they got their first call-up to the senior national team for competitive action during the campaign for the Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers.

Obi and Taiwo are also among the few members of the silver-winning U-20 squad that not only made the final list to the 2006 Nations Cup in Egypt, but also tested regular action.

Come February 16 in Abuja, the duo will mount the stage but in stiff contest for the GLO-CAF Young Player of the Year crown. They are challenged by Egypt's Farag Ahmed who plays for Sochaux in France.

Farag failed to make the Pharoah's squad for the Nations Cup.

ZTE Corporation, a Chinese Information Technology Company has signed a partnership with Globacom as suppliers for the Glo-CAF
Awards ceremony. A state-of-art media centre for both electronic and print journalists is a product of this strategic alliance between the leading Nigerian telecommunication company and Chinese IT service provider.

"Our objective is to partner with Globacom to set up a world class media facility for journalists because we believe that the media is a very important segment of football development", explained Ryan Qui, the Marketing Manager of ZTE.

Over 100 Nigerian and foreign Journalists have been accredited to cover the awards ceremony which holds at the International Conference Centre in Abuja on February 16.

Two staff of the 40-man crew of O'mage Ltd, the South Africa-based events management comapny that won the bid for the Glo-CAF Awards arrived Nigeria on Tuesday with another batch of 26 expected today (Friday). The early arrivals of the set/stage design experts who will take charge of installation of the state-of-art stage equipment at the International Conference Centre.

The remaining members of the O'mage group are expected in the country on Sunday, February 12. These will include senior management staff of the company and Hugh Masekela's dancers.

Meanwhile, the over 50 tonnes equipment comprising set runway, lighting and other gears had arrived ahead of the crew.

" We are giving this event a continental flavour, hence the involvement of experts from every part of the continent", a Globacom official remarked at a recent media briefing.

Nigeria's Lagbaja and South Africa's Hugh Masekela will entertain guests during the ceremony.